In terms of events that may move US stock markets today, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern we get minutes to the Fed's December 17-18, 2013 meeting, at which it announced the beginning of the end for its bond-buying binge. At 3:00 p.m., analysts expect November 2013 consumer credit to contract from the prior month's pace. Regarding specific stocks, AZZ Incorporated (NYSE:AZZ), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY), Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ), Family Dollar (NYSE:FDO), Monsanto (NYSE:MON), Ruby Tuesday (NYSE:RT), and Texas Industries (NYSE:TXI) are all due to release results.

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY): The pharmaceutical firm is moved to Underperform from Market Perform by BMO Capital Markets.

Hipcricket (OTCBB:HIPP): After its iffy earnings, the company gets cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Northland Securities.

J.M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM): In a jam? The peanut butter powerhouse gets downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD): Ronald McDonald may be on the run today, as making a quick buck in fast food becomes increasingly difficult. This as the Dow member is moved to Market Perform from Outperform with Wells Fargo. (Note that McDonald's stock scored a bullish "Buy" initiation elsewhere this morning.)

Select Comfort (NASDAQ:SCSS): The slumping mattress maker, whose stock nose-dived 19% on Monday, is now Neutral from Outperform with Wedbush.

Steven Madden (NASDAQ:SHOO): Shares are slashed to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

Twitter (NYSE:TWTR): Twitter stock, wobbling of late, is falling further ahead of the open after getting cut to Sell from Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald, which calls its valuation "excessive" and still sees fair value at $32.

United Technologies (NYSE:UTX): The owner of Otis elevators, a key Dow component, gets cut to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

The information on this website solely reflects the analysis of or opinion about the performance of securities and financial markets by the writers whose articles appear on the site. The views expressed by the writers are not necessarily the views of Minyanville Media, Inc. or members of its management. Nothing contained on the website is intended to constitute a recommendation or advice addressed to an individual investor or category of investors to purchase, sell or hold any security, or to take any action with respect to the prospective movement of the securities markets or to solicit the purchase or sale of any security. Any investment decisions must be made by the reader either individually or in consultation with his or her investment professional. Minyanville writers and staff may trade or hold positions in securities that are discussed in articles appearing on the website. Writers of articles are required to disclose whether they have a position in any stock or fund discussed in an article, but are not permitted to disclose the size or direction of the position. Nothing on this website is intended to solicit business of any kind for a writer's business or fund. Minyanville management and staff as well as contributing writers will not respond to emails or other communications requesting investment advice.